1940's Cake

The 1940's was a rough decade to say the least. As you likely know this was the decade during which WWll occurred. This global crisis affected every aspect of life-including cakes.

During war times there were rations on ingredients such as butter, sugar, milk, eggs, etc. This was the main factor that influenced the way cakes were made in this decade. Cakes were often made with substitutes such as honey and maple syrup as sweeteners. There was even a cake which was called "war cake", as it was made during war times and used very little expensive or rationed ingredients.

However, this is not the type of cake I choose to make for this decade. Instead I opted for the ever popular black forest cake, which grew in popularity after the war. This cake not only became a hit in North America, but it also was a favourite in Europe and Asia.

For this cake I used a simple and classic black forest cake recipe linked here: https://livforcake.com/black-forest-cake/. The only changes I made to this recipe were using 3 tablespoons of dark chocolate shavings in the cake batter (this was with doubling the recipe), and replacing the cherry liqueur with cherry syrup from the maraschino jar. I really loved this recipe and the cakes turned out amazing. They were delicious (I know this from eating the scraps lol, and from the feedback I received), and once soaked in the cherry syrup were extremely moist. This recipe is perfect for someone just starting out with baking, and with more experience can truly be a delectable dessert. Everything about this cake was so enjoyable: the cakes didn't take very long to make, the frosting was a refreshing whipped cream (stabilized with powdered sugar), and the cherries-chefs kiss! Overall if you are looking to create and iconic and classic cake-make this one-it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Side note: Even though I do not care for chocolate cake I must say this one was absolutely delicious.